Eclipsical Dilemmas
by Romantic Nerd
Summary: I had this idea watching a recent eclipse. The story is about fate entangled with actual eclipses that occurred in Toronto at the time. The 1st chapter explains what "eclipsical dilemmas" are (I made them up) and analyzes many of the "eclipsical dilemmas" William and Julia have faced. The 2nd chapter links in Eva Moon. The 3rd chapter is really my story. It's about love.
1. Chapter 1

_Eclipsical_ Dilemmas

 **Introduction**

A few months after William and Julia were married there was a total lunar eclipse (October 16, 1902). William, particularly, was very excited to see it. He and his wife went to Toronto Island that evening to avoid the light pollution in the city. They lay together on a picnic blanket, under the full Moon, sharing a quilt to stay warm in the crisp, clear midnight hours, talking and kissing until the event began to become visible as the edge of Earth's shadow covered a sliver of the Moon. Awestruck, William whispered to Julia, "Thousands of years ago, people could look up at this and see the curve of the planet we live on. They would have been able to know then the nature of their home." He leaned in closer to her and pointed to the rounded shadow's outline across the Moon and continued, "The people who live right along this edge here on Earth are experiencing sunset right now." Then he stood up and walked a few steps away from her to stand in front of her and turned sideways. Lifting his hands out to his right side, he placed his two palms together and extended his thumbs upward, and clapped silently while staring at the Moon – looking to see the "shadow barking dog" he was trying to make appear 370,000 km away. Disappointedly he said, "I guess my arms aren't long enough to make it to the edge where the sunset is from here." Julia's laughter was surrounded by the warm glow of her love for him. She was amazed how much one had to _know_ in order to get his sense of humor. She truly had never known anyone like him. She basked in the joy.

After the shadow had grown to cover about half of the Moon, Julia whispered in William's ear, "Mr. Murdoch, I believe you have a choice to make. We could stay here to see the rest of the eclipse, or … we could take advantage of the fact that I am at a point in my cycle that renders it safe for us to make love without using a prophylactic … perhaps you would prefer to head home before …" The urge William instantly felt in his trousers in response to her warm, breathy words made his choice quite clear. He was up offering her his hand before she had even had a chance to finish her sentence.

Julia waited naked in their bed while William finished brushing his teeth in the adjacent bathroom. The candle she had lit on the night table was the only light, save for the bathroom light – a sure sign that romance was in the air. William, himself already naked, switched off the light and approached the bed. Julia admired how beautiful he looked in the candlelight – his big, dark eyes, handsome face, and athletic physique seemingly intensified and deepened in the yellowish glow. William leaned over to blow out the candle, but hesitated as Julia's husky, firm voice instructed him, "Leave the flame, Mr. Murdoch … Come here." He slid in next to his wife. They touched, caressed, kissed, sucked, licked, nibbled, and pressed on each other until their desires reached the edge of desperation.

William pulled away from Julia and with a boyish, playful grin he gave her a quick kiss and jumped out of bed. "I bet it'll work now," he said as he lined his body up between the candle and the wall, creating a shadow that rested a few feet away from the corner. He extended his hands out, put his palms together with connected thumbs sticking up to be ears, and once again made a clapping motion to craft a "shadow barking dog" on the wall.

Sounding annoyed, Julia shifted herself to sit on the edge of their bed and said, "Yes, I see – Amazing the difference a few hundred thousand kilometers can make." Julia got up and walked over to his shadow. She gestured, pointing out a peninsula-shaped bump extending out from the pelvis area of William's shadow and teased, "And, Mr. Murdoch, what is this … extension I see here?"

William's shadow seemed to stand up taller as he answered, "Well, Mrs. Murdoch, it seems that … swelling … happens when I allow my attention to dwell just a little too long on you."

"Oh, I see," Julia said, her voice sounding both stunned and aroused. "I do think I would like to investigate the heavenly body that is the source of the shadow," she said, her eyes locked on his as she pressed her back into the wall and slid around the corner and along the wall to rest directly in front of him. They both turned to see the resulting shadow, candlelight burning between them to create the sensuous shapes on the opposite wall. Julia felt her insides flip over with lust as William leaned into her, pushing her deeper into the wall, and melding their shadows into one.

Still inside of her as their hearts and breathing slowed, he asked, lips brushing against her ear, "What did you think of that eclipse, Mrs. Murdoch?"

Julia's breathing still a bit hurried, she swallowed and worked to find words in her swirling head, "Delightful," seemed to be all she could find. The Murdoch's slid back into bed, blew out the candle and slept happily for the few hours left before they each had to get up and head to work in the morning.

 _Science:_

 _An eclipse requires the perfect alignment of three or more celestial bodies and brings to light observations that would not otherwise be possible. For example, during a solar eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up perfectly - allowing an observer from Earth to see the Moon block the light from the Sun. It is only during such an eclipse that the corona (gaseous envelope) of the Sun can be seen. Alternatively, during a lunar eclipse, the same three celestial bodies line up, but in this case the shadow created by the Earth passing in between the Sun and the Moon allows an observer from Earth to see the curved shape of our planet on the Moon as it revolves into the darkness of our shadow. Due to the patterns of motion of the heavens, it is not uncommon for the same celestial bodies to line up once again in the future, if you wait long enough._

 _Life:_

 _Eclipsical dilemmas are choices to be made that are just as rare as celestial eclipses. They require the perfect alignment of at least three people and important factors, and they allow for awareness about the people involved that would not otherwise have been likely. Due to the patterns dictated by fate, it is not uncommon for the same people to be involved in an eclipsical dilemma again in the future, if you wait long enough._

 _William and Julia had experienced quite a few eclipsical dilemmas._

 **William & Julia Part (1896)**

The first eclipsical dilemma involved William, Julia, and Dr. Isaac Tash in 1896. During this rare alignment, each of these people had to make a challenging choice between possible actions to take. Dr. Tash had to decide whether to admit to Detective Murdoch that he performed abortions or allow him to endanger Julia's career, and possibly more. William had to decide whether to report Dr. Tash for performing abortions (as well as Julia for compromising a case) or to bend his own understanding of what is right and what is wrong. Julia had to decide whether to tell William about her own abortion, and its resulting sterility, or to remain in a relationship with him based on deception.

Further, each of them revealed something new about themselves. William demonstrated that he was tenacious in pursuit of the truth – something Julia had previously observed and admired, but had never seen from the point of view of being the one being hunted down before. He also demonstrated that he was capable of deep, personal change – by uncharacteristically letting the prey go. His motivation for doing so may have been due to a new moral understanding - or might it have been solely because of the power of his love for Julia? Julia revealed that she would rather have an honest, lonely life than live within an insincere relationship. Although, she still withheld from William that the abortion rendered her sterile – Was this because she still held out hope for their relationship and didn't want to take the chance that this information would irreversibly sever any possible love between them? Dr. Tash showed a loyalty to Julia, and likely to the truth as well, that had never before been tested to such a degree.

 **William & Julia Get Back Together (And Julia leaves for Buffalo and Julia accepts Darcy's Proposal)**

Consider when William had to decide whether or not to jump into the hot air balloon – renew his relationship – with Julia. Was this an eclipsical dilemma? Julia also had a decision to make – take him back or not. Although there were important decisions to be made, and it could be argued that the individuals involved did reveal new things about themselves, this cannot be an eclipsical dilemma because there were not three or more people involved. For the same reason, Julia's leaving for Buffalo, and her accepting Darcy's proposal, cannot be considered eclipsical dilemmas.

 **Julia & Darcy Wed**

How about the marriage of Julia and Darcy – Was this an eclipsical dilemma? There were ultimately many more than three people involved; Julia, Darcy, William, Ruby, Eva Moon (also known as Constance Gardner), Inspector Giles, and Inspector Brackenreid. Darcy decided to believe William when he said the relationship between himself and Julia was "dead and buried." Ruby had to decide whether to stir things up – constantly in this case. Eva Moon decided to commit the murder and frame William for it. Inspector Giles decided to keep Julia from visiting William in jail. Julia decided to leave William a note telling him she preferred his love to Darcy's – but he had to tell her in time. William decided to set Eva Moon free (allowing him to continue his life with self-respect) rather than stop the wedding of Julia to another – even though he knew that she would have preferred him, potentially losing her forever. And Inspector Brackenreid decided to lie for Detective Murdoch.

Much was revealed about the character of these individuals. Julia revealed her true love for William – at least to him. (Remember this tends to happen during eclipses - The _viewpoint_ from particular bodies affects what is ultimately seen by each body – not everybody sees the same thing). Unfortunately, from Julia's viewpoint it probably looked like William did not still love her – from her perspective, she could not see the pressures he was responding to when he made his choice not to stop her wedding. William was able to learn something about himself (much like Earthlings learning their planet is round from a lunar eclipse). He found that living with his moral decisions was essential, it was basically non-negotiable – Self-respect was the default. He was surprised to find that it trumped his love for his soul mate. Although the decision he made would not lead to his happiness, it did lead to his ability to survive in whole. As his decision was between two things that both had extremely serious negative consequences, this situation is a strong example of an eclipsical dilemma.

 **Policemen's Ball (1999): William & Julia Start Their **_**"Affair"**_

Julia and William re-unite at the Policemen's Ball. Does this classify as an eclipsical dilemma? There were three people involved; Darcy, Julia and William. Darcy chose to let Julia go and, "be with whom she likes," for the turn of the century. Why would he do this? It can be argued that feeling like you are holding onto someone who doesn't want to be with you feels bad. He chose to let her go to free himself from feeling like her imprisoner – his self-respect required it. Once set free, Julia decided to go. In the words of Caroline Hill she, "took a chance on love." Scandals aside – she went to her soul mate. William decided to take her back. (George Crabtree might also be aligned in this eclipsical dilemma, because if it weren't for him William might not have been at the ball when Julia arrived).

Darcy showed Julia that he too found their relationship to be intolerable. Julia showed her love for William mattered more to her than living within society's norms. William showed that he learned from past hesitations – he wasn't going to miss his second chance.

 **Making Their Parting Official: Julia's Getting Free from Darcy**

 _ **Part I: Attempting to legally free Julia from Darcy**_

The "bodies" involved are Julia and Darcy, and it could be argued that William got officially involved when he confronted Darcy. As a matter of fact, it was when William did have his altercation with Darcy that the intensity of the situation seemed to reach its maximum – resulting in one of the most heated arguments between Julia and William to date. William chose to approach Darcy, and this revealed that he felt that he should not be left out of the discussion. He also showed that, when it comes to Julia, he can lose control. Darcy originally agreed to an annulment. However, Julia chose not to lie during the proceedings – revealing that she valued the truth, and peoples' opinions of Darcy, more so than being free of him and able to marry William _in the Catholic Church_. She probably believed that Darcy would allow for a divorce, so the cost of not lying for the annulment would be that William would have to accept marriage outside of his faith. William ultimately did decide to do so, revealing his priority was Julia over his faith. Darcy's decision not to grant Julia a divorce in the end revealed that his value of society's opinion of him overshadowed his desire to be free of a harmful, toxic relationship.

 **Part II: Dealing with Julia's** _ **Freedom**_ **from Darcy via Being Widowed**

James Gillies' path re-aligned with that of William and Julia once again as he framed Julia for the murder of her husband. It was actually the third time their bodies had eclipsed in such a way. The first time, Julia had attended the public humiliation of Mr. Gillies when Detective Murdoch tricked his friend, Mr. Perry, into confessing and naming Gillies' in the planning of a professor's murder. The second was when Gillies had buried Julia alive as part of a game to match wits with the detective. During this third eclipsical dilemma significant decisions were made. Julia decided to testify to her innocence, foregoing a defense plea. This showed her utter belief that the truth holds the key to the meaning of life – choosing to die with honor over living, albeit in prison, with having compromised what she knew was right. William showed that he would give his life for Julia, but to be honest, everybody involved probably knew that already. Many others were aligned with William and Julia during this eclipsical dilemma – loyalty being shown by the Inspector and George being most notable. It is worth noting that during the very public trial William and Julia proclaimed their love for each other – as this was a favorite story for the newspapers, their love for each other became common knowledge.

 **William's First Proposal**

The first time William proposed marriage to Julia, she decided to say no. Of course, she did so because Leslie Garland had led her to believe James Gillies was still alive and watching them, and that he would kill William if she married him, and her too if she told William. At first it appeared that her fear of losing William to death and her fear of Gillies were stronger than her desire to marry William and her faith in their ability to outwit Gillies. She decided to keep the secret from William. However, in the end she made the other choice, telling William of the threat – her ambivalence demonstrating the severity of this dilemma for her. Ultimately she showed that her need for, and faith in, William was stronger than her fear of his or her own death and Gillies. William revealed that he could survive Julia's refusal to marry him. Leslie Garland revealed that his anger at Julia, and William to a lesser degree, was significant.

 **The Murdoch's Procreate: Birth of William Jr. (December, 1903)**

This event classifies as an eclipsical dilemma because of the decision to try to carry the pregnancy to term rather than abort the child. Dr. Tash was integral in this decision, providing Julia and William with news of the innovative new way to perform Cesarean sections, leading to the greatly raised odds of the mother surviving the procedure. Dr. Tash had to decide whether or not to work with Murdoch after he had so nearly reported him for performing abortions – which ironically Murdoch himself was now asking Dr. Tash to perform on his own wife to abort his own child, at least at first. William and Julia had to decide whether to risk Julia's life for the hopeful outcome of having a child of their own. They decided to keep the pregnancy and risk the odds – hope and trust in science winning out over fear.

Life dealt them a curve though, creating a severe snowstorm, trapping William and Julia alone in their home as she went into labor. Only they could have squeaked through this one with such a positive outcome, as Julia was a trained doctor, with medical supplies in her home, and William was a quick study with lots of experience dealing with pressure. Julia taught William how to perform the surgery in between her contractions and before he used chloroform to render her unconscious. William performed the surgery – cutting his son's arm in the process, but enabling the survival of both his wife and child. The newspapers had a field day with this story, especially so close to Christmas. The Murdoch's were already one of, if not the most, famous couples in Toronto. It was this story that made them very popular with the average citizen.

 **Adoption of Murdoch Daughters and Total Lunar Eclipse of 1906**

Julia awoke to find William's side of the bed empty. She pictured him downstairs struggling with his demons – She knew the pressures of this unexpected pregnancy were taking a toll on both of them. Wrapping her naked body in her robe, she talked herself through the situation up to this point as she headed downstairs to look for him. They had not been using any means of birth control for nearly a year now, figuring that her Cesarean section had left enough scar tissue in her uterus to render implantation of a fertilized egg impossible. Once again, they were wrong, and she had woken up nauseous for the past few mornings. William figured it out almost as quickly as she had. They were both worried because the only possible way for Julia to survive another childbirth required another Cesarean section, and the second was likely more risky than the first. Julia had already gone to Dr. Tash for a pregnancy test. They had not yet officially been told that she was pregnant. They both planned to go to her appointment with him tomorrow to get the results and hear about their options. She had made it clear to William that she was excited about the pregnancy – that she wanted to have another child with him. William seemed much more ambivalent – probably explaining his current problems with sleeping.

Noticing that there were no lights on downstairs, Julia entered the kitchen, expecting to find William in the dark. He wasn't there so she checked in the parlor, which was also empty. A sick feeling of concern began to grow in her belly. Back in the foyer, she noticed that William's coat was missing. Perhaps he had thought of something relative to a case – He had left in the middle of the night a few times like that in the past. Maybe she was wrong about his restlessness being a result of his thoughts dwelling on her pregnancy. Whatever the reason for his absence, she was definitely worried. Then she noticed that the door was not locked. William would never have left their home in the middle of the night without locking the door behind him. Concern exploded into dread.

Julia opened the front door and leaned out to take a look. There was William (What a relief!) sitting on their porch bench. Her relief was quickly overshadowed by worry as she noticed that their decanter of whisky was resting on the arm of the bench, and in William's hand was a glass of whisky. He had heard the door open and turned to catch her eyes as she peeked out.

William couldn't read her expression – a mixture of relief and worry, compassion and fear?

Julia stepped back into the house to get her coat and joined him on the bench. Silence filled the air between them for a while. Finally Julia spoke, "My grandmother called liquor, "liquid courage."

William wrinkled up the right side of his face, considering the implications and said, "The last time I drank some was before the first time I proposed to you. I had some of the Inspector's scotch – pumped myself up … It didn't turn out so well." William downed his glass.

"Well, not immediately, but it turned out pretty well in the long run, don't you agree?" she asked. (William nodded yes). "Pour me one?" Julia said as she tried to work up the courage to ask him what was wrong. William poured her a glass of whisky from the decanter and she downed it in one big swig. He raised an eyebrow at her and she giggled. Her expression changed and she asked, "So William, why do we find ourselves out on the porch in our pajamas and barefoot at one AM on this beautiful February night?" Julia wrapped William's arm around her and nestled against him. Her psychiatry training told her it would be easier for him to disclose if she wasn't looking directly at him.

"I had a bad dream – I didn't want to go back to sleep afterwards," he said. William poured himself another glass of whisky.

Trying to keep the mood a little light, Julia pushed him to tell more, "Mr. Murdoch, you do know how very much your psychiatrist wife loves to analyze dreams – particularly yours. Do tell."

William frowned slightly and said, "There's not really much to analyze about this one. I think its meaning is pretty clear."

Julia gave him a little squeeze, "Share it with me, William," she said.

William swallowed his drink and told her the story of his dream. They were on a family outing with their 2 ½ year-old son, William Jr., walking along a stream. William decided to try to teach the boy how to skip rocks across the surface of the water. He demonstrated how to pick a good flat rock, how to hold it, and how to flick your wrist to get it to skip. Julia picked up a rock and sailed it towards the water, creating five or six rippling circles across the water. William was very impressed and turned to her, saying, "You never cease to amaze me Julia," and then taking her in a delicious kiss. William explained that in the dream he was holding Julia's hips and he could feel her skirt move as he heard the voice of a child – not William Jr. – say, "Mommy," and tug on her dress. Julia turned to attend to the child. At that moment, a beautiful blue butterfly fluttered into view and landed on William's hand. Marveling at it, and at his pleasant reaction to it, he turned back towards Julia to tell her that he no longer felt "uneasy" about butterflies. But Julia was nowhere in sight. Immediately panic set in. He called out for her, frantically panning the area. He saw William Jr. standing in the stream – now much older than three, crying and angry at William. His son yelled at him, "You were supposed to hold on to her! Why did you let her go?!" William dreamt that he fell to his knees in front of his son in the water and sobbed as he held him tight. The sobbing was what woke him up.

Time passed. Julia was the first to speak, "Well, it does seem to clearly express your worry over losing me as a result of trying to have this child, I'll grant you that." William held her eyes and nodded. She continued, "And the butterfly indicates that your unconscious is making a connection between the death of your mother and my … death. What age would you say William Jr. was at the end of your dream?

Nodding his head yes, William replied, "8 years old – like I was when I found my mother's body in the stream."

"Do you think William Jr. would blame you for my loss like you blamed your father?" she asked.

"I don't know … Maybe, I guess," he said. William fiddled with his wedding ring, building up the nerve to ask Julia directly whether she wanted to go through with the pregnancy – already knowing her answer, but hoping he was wrong.

Julia sighed, "William, I must admit that I do so want this baby. I would like to try to have it. It seems that you want me to have an abortion instead?"

William opened up his heart and let his thoughts pour out. He told Julia that he felt he could not live without her. He said he did not want to take the risk of losing her. He reminded her of how frightened they both were in the hours before he performed the Cesarean section on her to deliver William Jr. He explained that even though he too wanted this baby, he wanted her more, and he did not want to take the risk. He added William Jr.'s loss of his mother to his fears. He went so far as to say that if he had it to do over again with her first pregnancy, he believed the wiser decision would have been to have chosen for her to have an abortion – although he was very, very glad they had not actually chosen that path.

Julia's heart was pounding. She was scared now. She wanted to keep her pregnancy and she decided to try to push William past his concerns. She argued that the real danger in the case of their son's birth was that there had been a large snowstorm that trapped them in their home when she went into labor. This baby would be due in the early fall. She would be able to have the surgery done by Isaac – in the hospital. It was much safer this time.

William's head was spinning with dread. He felt cold, like he was going into shock. All he could think of was that he was losing her right there and then. He reached to pour himself another drink.

Julia reached across him to place her hand on his arm as he lifted the decanter of whisky and said, "Please don't William." He finished pouring the drink and put the decanter down. He left the glass where it sat on the bench. Julia could see him clench his jaw. He was holding his breath. She could not catch his eye. She brought her hand back to her lap and asked, "Did that make you angry?"

"Yes," William said, "I don't like being told what to do."

"I wasn't telling you, I was asking you," she said.

With that William lifted the glass and swallowed the whisky down. He turned to face her and asked, "So, even knowing how I feel, you still want to try to have the baby?"

Julia sighed. "Yes … I do." Julia shifted, sitting up straighter, not under his arm anymore. "William, this is my body. It is me who has to go through the pregnancy and the surgery."

William was overwhelmed with fear. He felt his stomach wrench. He bent over, hugging his sides and rocking himself for a few moments before nausea sprung him forward and he bolted to lean over their porch fence and vomit in the bushes. So quickly after the panic, he felt the anger move in. "How dare she claim control over this decision!" he thought. She had no right to leave him out of it. His hands were locked into fists. He could see why some men lost control – the fury was nearly overwhelming. He needed to get away from her before he did or said something he would regret later.

Julia wanted to take back her remark about it being "her body" immediately. She knew it was wrong to suggest he had no part in it – no control over the outcome. She was herself frozen with fear for a moment at how severely William had reacted to her words – or was it just too much alcohol? William was already down the steps headed down their path to the street before she could get herself to move. She ran, placing her body in front of him, trying to hold him back from leaving. "Please William, don't go. I was wrong to imply that it's solely up to me. It's just that the laws give men all the power – and it's so unfair that men can decide what women can do with their own bodies. I know you agree with me that this is wrong … Please William." William steamed past her, opening the gate and walking out onto the sidewalk, barefoot, in his pajama bottoms and his coat.

Yielding to the urge to cry, Julia tried to reassure herself that he would be back. She went into the house and got a glass of water, reasoning that when William returned it would help his body better cope with his overconsumption of alcohol. She sat on the porch steps, naked except for her robe and coat, waiting for him. After a time, her tears had stopped and she found herself looking down at her bare feet, wondering if she was as crazy as the sight suggested – even though it was relatively warm, it was February after all.

She hadn't heard the gate. She saw William's feet in front of hers. Relief and love exploded through her. She heard the "thump" of their coated bodies slapping together when she jumped off of the bottom step and into his arms. She could smell the scent of him mixed with the cold. It felt like she would never ever let go. "I'm so glad you came back. Please don't leave me William," she said into his shoulder.

"I just needed a walk to cool off. I will never leave you Julia, never," he said.

He took a seat on the steps and Julia sat down next to him. She offered him the glass of water, "Here, this will help your body with the alcohol."

He raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Telling me what to do again?"

"Doctor's orders," she said, "That's different."

William drank the glass of water, even though he had argued that he'd thrown up most of the liquor anyway. He reflected on the irony of their situation. A decade or so ago they had broken up because he judged her as behaving immorally for having aborted another man's child, and here he was now begging her to abort his own.

Julia reached over and turned his face to hers. "William, I'm willing to have an abortion if that truly is what we decide together is best. You matter more to me than this baby. But we don't have to decide right now. Let's see what Isaac has to say. Let's see if you feel differently in a few days," she said, lovingly caressing his face in her hands. William agreed.

They sat, Julia under his arm, and as they both breathed in a sigh of relief – albeit temporary, they looked up to the sky and, low and behold, right there in front of them, the Moon could be seen inching out from beneath the Earth's shadow. Julia's voice, filled with awe, said, "It's like the rest of the eclipse from so many years ago."

He had been so distracted that he had forgotten about tonight's eclipse. "It makes such a difference – perspective, I mean," he pondered, pushing himself to try to remember to see things from more than one point of view as much as possible. "I mean to keep that in mind – to remember that life's struggles, and even joys, are multi-dimensional, and that pushing oneself to see things from as many points of view as possible leads to a better and more complete understanding – of oneself and of others as well," he explained.

Julia leaned heavier against him and said, "That seems wise." She signaled a change of subject by wrapping her arm in his, "Husband, I am grappling with a dilemma – As a doctor I know we should head inside as I am quite concerned we may end up with frostbitten feet, but as your wife I believe that, after spending so much time out on our porch on such a romantic night, we should share at least a kiss…"

William turned to face her, "I do believe the best choice would be to share a kiss, as I have noticed a correlation between kissing you and an increase in circulation – and better blood-flow would ward off frostbite, would it not?"

Julia held eye contact with him while she brought herself to kneel on the step in front of him, spreading his thighs apart and pressing herself closer to him. She reached up to hold his face in her hands and moved her face to hover over his. "Winsome logic as usual, Mr. Murdoch," she remarked in a tone that seduced every cell in his body to change its orientation and focus on her. Softly, slowly, she touched her lips to his.

William was surprised by the intensity of his longing for such a tender touch from her. Controlling his desire to passionately dive into her, he forced himself to match her speed, align with her gentler mood. He opened his lips to her, giving in to the urge to moan when her velvety tongue slid into his mouth. His hands found their way to her hips, where they lusciously explored the curves of her body. Only moments later, he had his way with her, lifting her bottom up onto the side table in their foyer. Circulation was definitely increased; frostbite clearly thwarted.

The next day, Isaac surprised himself during their meeting. He normally did not make recommendations as to the choices couples should make – just gave them the facts and left it to them to decide. Possibly it was his loyalty to Julia, or his intense history with this particular couple, but Isaac argued for taking the risk of carrying the pregnancy to term. William and Julia decided to try to have the baby. Four months later, Julia miscarried, losing the little girl. She was far enough along in the pregnancy that they still needed to perform a Cesarean section to save Julia's life. After the miscarriage, William was greatly saddened, but Julia was devastated. The couple decided to adopt a daughter soon after that. Six months later they adopted sisters, Katie and Chelsea.


	2. Chapter 2

_Eclipsical Dilemmas_

 **Fate and Eva Moon**

Eva Moon (Constance Gardner)believed her life had become entwined with Detective Murdoch's the moment she saw him at the Wonderland Party. Her belief was only reinforced when he set her free. From that moment on she knew she would live her life in the shadows. She would see what others could not. She would avenge and protect the innocent – particularly women. The law was feeble and useless – she would administer justice as she saw fit. As Constance Gardner, she had accrued great wealth – but untrusting of banks, she had hidden it away. Now she could afford to live out the rest of her days fighting evil. There was only one man who had ever done right by her – at least in the end, and that was Detective Murdoch. She pledged to watch over him for the rest of her days. The Moon was Eva's celestial guardian and she checked in on Detective Murdoch during every eclipse since he set her free.

She had been there, looking up at Julia's prison window when she had been found guilty of murdering her husband. It was through the newspapers that she had come to know of Detective Murdoch's love for her. After a little research to find the date of her marriage to Dr. Garland, Eva had come to realize that Detective Murdoch may have, probably had, set her free rather than stopping the wedding of his soul mate to another. There was an eclipse this night, and Eva had come back to Toronto to see how the detective was fairing. Not very well it seemed and Eva had been striving to find a way to help him. She watched the prison now, hoping to find a way to free Dr. Ogden. The eclipse came and went, Eva had not come up with a plan and as the Sun rose she pledged to stay and try to think of something before the hanging the next day. (It would never be known that she had rigged the rope not to untangle and the floor not to open before the hanging. Murdoch had showed up and stopped the process before Eva's actions were necessary to save Dr. Ogden's life. Mr. Catchpole later found the evidence of what Eva had done to rig the failure of Julia's hanging, but never told anyone – thinking it had been Murdoch who had done it, and caring for Dr. Ogden sufficiently, and his own reputation as well, not to report the sabotage).

Eva Moon had even attended their wedding, hiding among the many faces in the pews. She disguised herself as an old man, using the beard and mustache to hide the scars on her face. Shortly afterwards, in October, 1902, she followed the couple as they left their Windsor House home to go watch the lunar eclipse from Toronto Island. She watched from afar as Detective Murdoch and Dr. Ogden flirted and kissed on their blanket in the grass. She even found herself giggling when the detective playfully tried to make a shadow image on the Moon. Such conflicting emotions filled her – happy for their happiness, sadly longing for a similar fate denied to her in part by the man she now so loyally watched over.

Later, she had read about the amazing birth of their son at the end of 1903. Detective Murdoch continued to impress her, this time by performing surgery on his wife to save her life and deliver their child. It was said in the paper that Dr. Ogden was not able to survive traditional childbirth due to damage to her cervix. Eva had wondered if the doctor had been brutalized by a man, much as Eva herself had been, at some point before she met the detective.

Eva Moon had even murdered a serial killer Detective Murdoch was looking for in August, 1905, leaving the corpse to help the detective close those cases, but never able to solve who had killed the killer. It was a very rare solar eclipse that had brought her back to Toronto then.

On the cold February evening in 1906, when the detective and his wife seemed to be arguing out on their porch, she hid in the darkness, assessing their struggles and trying to determine if he needed help. She could not hear the conversation, except for what was said by Dr. Ogden as she tried to stop the detective from walking away. She felt a strong kinship with Dr. Ogden – who spoke of men controlling women's bodies and unfairness. She hoped Detective Murdoch was not such a man. She was relieved when she later decided, based on their loving kiss before they re-entered their house that he was not.

Currently, she was stalking a serial killer in Philadelphia – a man who raped his victims and cut off one of their fingers. The trail seemed to have gone cold, and she had to leave it for a while anyway, as there was to be another lunar eclipse (November, 1909) in Toronto, and she was due to check in on Detective Murdoch. Upon her arrival in Toronto, she was reminded of how their fates were tied together once again, as she discovered that the detective was searching for a murderer of a woman who had been raped and had her finger cut off. It seemed her serial killer had relocated to Canada. She planned on finding and killing him, and once again leaving the body for Detective Murdoch. She only hoped that in the process the detective would not catch her and be forced to once again decide whether or not to hold her to the law.


	3. Chapter 3

_Eclipsical Dilemmas_

 **The Latest Case (Total Lunar Eclipse, November, 1909)**

Elizabeth Matheson, a young professional woman working as a lecturer at Toronto University finished up her class, "The Science of Cooking," as the female students packed up and headed out. She pulled out a note from an admirer who had asked her out on a date indicating the location and time – 6:00 PM. On her way out she stopped by the office of the principal of the "Household Science" Program, Annie Laird to thank her for giving her the opportunity to teach the class. They discussed the success of the woman who recommended Elizabeth for the position, Clara Benson, who was the first woman to rise above the position of demonstrator at the University.

She met her date (Leslie Garland) who was already sitting at their table in the expensive restaurant. Later she found herself waking up in a small lab-like room. She was hand-cuffed, but quickly reacted to the pain caused by the removal of her left ring finger. There was a blood-soaked bandage applied around her hand and the base of the severed finger. There were electrodes attached to her chest to monitor her heart rate. She called out to her imprisoner. From outside of the room Garland responded, "Oh good, I need you conscious for this next part." He was holding a stopwatch and flicked a button which turned on the gas entering the room. Within 18 seconds Elizabeth was unconscious and Garland noted that it took 50 seconds for her to die. He removed the body and took it to an alley in Cabbagetown. He placed a small golden strand (from a strand of feather Christmas tree garland) in her bosom. He rolled her body onto its right side and stepped back about 10 feet and then shot her in the left side of the head with a pistol.

The next morning, William and Julia were riding together in a carriage as they headed to work. She had been working again as a pathologist for stationhouse #4 since a year after the birth of their son, William Jr. six years ago. Their family had grown to include two adopted daughters, Katie – 5 years-old and Chelsea – 3 years-old. They were discussing William's desire to get a family dog while flirting with each other.

"And who would get up early to go walk this dog?" Julia asked as she kissed and nibbled on his neck. "I think we would both surely miss our early morning … activities … if you had to leave the bed before the children knocked on our bedroom door and our parenting responsibilities began for the day," she added as she slid her hand under his vest.

William reached up and turned Julia's chin to bring her face in line with his and kissed her softly on the lips as Julia's hand moved out from under his vest to play with the hair where it meets the back of his neck. They kissed for a few moments before he pulled back and said, "I see your point, Mrs. Murdoch. I will concede for now." They were only able to kiss each other for a few more moments before the carriage arrived at stationhouse #4.

Higgins was waiting for them as they exited the carriage and told them that they both were needed. Julia sighed, "I guess I'll have to wait for that first cup of tea – it looks like there won't be any settling in for us today, detective."

At the crime scene in the alley, William found Elizabeth's Toronto University I.D. in her purse. Julia said that they had recently started allowing women to teach there. He also found the note from the admirer inviting her to dinner at 6 PM. Julia reported to William that the shot to the head showed no powder burns, so was more than 3 feet away, and that the amount of blood loss suggested she was already dead when she was shot. Julia examined the victim's left hand as William squatted down next to her and looked on. The ring finger had been removed. William asked her if she thought the choice of finger was significant and she speculated that it was likely so. She added, "There appears to be cyanosis as well – a bluish color to the skin." In response to William asking what would cause this, she explained that it is common with carbon monoxide poisoning – that he himself would likely have had it to some degree after Gillies had poisoned him while he was in the trap on the day she was to be hanged for Darcy's murder.

"Do you think there's a connection?" he asked.

"Possibly," she replied while reaching out to stroke William's jacket collar. "I hope not," she added. They had come to treasure these little sensuous touches while at work – such teasing seemed to serve to wind both of them up, so that their subsequent lovemaking would be all the more passionate.

Back at the stationhouse, William asked Higgins to find any murders that involved the cutting off of the left ring finger. Another constable was charged with making copies of Elizabeth's picture from her University I.D. and then using it to try to find the restaurant where she may have met her date.

William headed off to inspect the victim's home, where he found she had a yellow-colored cat. He also determined that she was a single woman who lived alone. She was relatively well-off as she owned the small house where she lived. The neighbors said she worked very hard at studying and they had never seen her courting anyone.

Next, William went to the "Household Sciences" Department at Toronto University where he met both the principal, Annie Laird, and Clara Benson. They actually both knew him from reading the newspapers and asked after his impressive wife, Dr. Ogden. Mrs. Laird informed him that Elizabeth seemed happy when she left around 4:30 PM. Miss Benson explained that Elizabeth was a head-strong, focused young woman, and that she had never had the occasion to speak to her about any romantic relationships, though she suspected there were none.

Back at the morgue Julia gave William her initial findings:

She explained that the time of death was around 10:00 PM last night. The cause of death appeared to be carbon monoxide poisoning, with the cutting-off of the finger before death and the shooting in the head after death. She provided him with the bullet. Julia looked down at the body and said, "She was raped before she died." William grimaced and commented on how awful the last few hours of the victim's life must have been. Julia said she was planning on conducting further tests to see if the woman may have been unconscious – possibly from chloroform – at some point before death. He commented that he hoped so. William speculated that the body had to have been moved because there was no way to expose her to carbon monoxide in the alley. He asked about any trace evidence that might help them know where else she had been. Julia produced the golden strand of Christmas tree garland but neither of them was sure what it was at that point. There was also some animal hair on her clothing from a yellow-colored cat, but William figured it was from the victim's own cat, and there was oil – likely car engine oil – on the souls of her shoes.

William turned to leave, but thought better of it and turned back. He laughed at himself because he knew he wanted an excuse to touch her. He stepped in close to his wife and played with one of her curls. "The two women at the University are admirers of yours – following you through newspaper stories," he said as he reached his other hand around her and pulled her closer to him. "It seems you hard-working professional women keep track of each other," he added as he shifted his hand from her curls to the soft skin of her face.

Julia pressed herself into him, taking his lips in a kiss. She pulled back from the kiss and said, "It's great to know I have fans too – but I don't think it's quite like your "Murdoch Appreciation Society". However, there is a mutual appreciation of how hard one has to work as a woman to get ahead in these male professions."

"Well, I'm very proud of you," William said before he slid his hand behind her head and guided her into another kiss.

Higgins entered the morgue and interrupted them to inform the detective that there have been murders of young professional women who have had their left ring fingers cut off – but in Philadelphia.

William whispered in Julia's ear, "I'm going to miss you," and headed back to the stationhouse to look into the records of these crimes.

The Murdoch household was bustling with life as William came in the door. Julia had gotten home about an hour earlier than he, so the children were highly engaged in rambunctious play with her as they awaited the serving of the family dinner by Eloise. Eloise had been caring for the family since they had moved into this house when Julia was pregnant with William Jr. She was a no-nonsense woman with a family of her own, who cooked their meals and cleaned their house. They also employed a live-in nanny, Claire-Marie, who had gone out with friends now that one of the parents was home. William could smell the fish cooking – as it was Friday and the family held to the Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays.

Six-year-old William Jr. rounded the corner first, reaching up to grab William's hand and dragging him into the parlor, "Mommy and Chelsea are hiding and we can't find them," he said. William very quickly deduced that Julia was hiding behind the curtains, because one side stuck out further than the other, and upon inspection he could see part of her foot. Five-year-old Katie noticed his eyes aimed in the direction of the curtains and she darted towards them before William could even pretend he didn't know where Julia was. Katie dove behind the curtain and with gleeful laughter, jumped up to wrap herself around her mother's waist.

Julia emerged from behind the curtain with a little girl hanging from her side. William Jr. then moved in to add to the attack, clinging to the other side of her. Julia called out, "Your team can't win until you also find Chelsea!" Chelsea immediately gave herself away, as little three-year-olds will often do, by giggling hysterically and knocking on the piano kickboard she had previously been hidden behind by her mother while her siblings had counted to 100 in the kitchen.

Katie jumped off of her mother and went to investigate how to open the piano kickboard. She found the latch and opened the wooden panel to reveal her sister tucked comfortably in the tiny space. She tagged her sister, winning the round and exclaimed, "What a great hiding space! It's the best one yet."

William added, "But only if you are small enough to fit."

Chelsea used her release from within the piano to run to her father, smothering him in hugs and infectious laughter as he swung her around playfully. Julia reached in for a hug and a kiss from William, temporarily stopping the rough-housing, and welcomed him home whispering, "I missed you too," in his ear – drawing his memory back to earlier in the morgue and how he had found it so very hard to keep his hands off of her, even at work. With his daughter Chelsea in one arm and his beautiful wife in the other, William and Julia kissed.

William Jr. complained first, "Oh no, they're kissing again." Katie quickly followed with a disappointed moan. Even little Chelsea piped in, "Oh no, not kissing again."

William and Julia both tried to control their urge to laugh at the now somewhat common reaction of their children to their amorous behavior, with William failing first, cracking a big enough smile that Julia was no longer able to maintain their kiss, and pulling away. "Perhaps another time then Mr. Murdoch," she said, as Eloise called them into the kitchen for dinner.

The family enjoyed their dinner. There was much talking and some laughing. They made some plans for the weekend. Julia wanted to take the whole family to the Club (Aunt Ruby pays for their membership each year as a Christmas gift) tomorrow afternoon, and the children want to go to the park – and get some ice cream too – on Sunday afternoon.

After dinner the family gathered around while either William or Julia read aloud from a book – currently "Hansel and Gretel". Then the children all got cleaned up and into pajamas, and finally got tucked in. William and Julia had an hour or two before they went to sleep, usually spending it reading, talking, working on little projects and/or making love.

Julia decided to indulge in another glass of wine – it was the weekend after all. She sat on the couch reading a medical journal. William came in carrying the week's newspapers and sat down in the reclining chair. He looked through the papers for awhile and then got up to get a science magazine and sat down on the couch. Julia knew her husband well and had ascertained that something was bothering him. She put down her journal and watched him for a moment as she sipped on her wine. He didn't seem to notice she was watching him and shifted in his seat. "Definitely bothered," she thought. Julia took her last sip of wine and got up, walking over to William and sliding onto his lap. She reached up to undo his tie and said, "You never even loosened your tie," and then kissed him under his ear. She undid the top buttons on his shirt and lowered her face into his neck and inhaled deeply to take in his scent. She rested her lips just above his ear and said, with her breath filling the space between them, "I do so love the smell of you." He turned to her and they kissed.

Julia softly pulled back and said, "It seems to me that you are a little tense, somewhat distracted. Is something wrong?" William wrinkled up his face into that sort of "I guess there's no point in denying it," look. "William, are you still uncomfortable going to the Club? – Is that what's bothering you?" she suggested.

"No, Julia. The people at the Club have been respectful enough lately, at least to my face – and the children really do love going, and they learn so much there. I guess I'll take the girls to the stable while you take William Jr. to the pool?" he replied.

Julia nodded. She shifted, sliding off of his lap to sit next to him on the couch and said, "Well, since the very first time we ever officially went on a date, that lovely picnic in the park with the absinthe experiment (she reached over and unbuttoned his vest), the most likely thing to pull your attention away from me, from us, has been a case. What about this one has stolen your beautiful mind?" she asked as she slid his vest off of his shoulders and folded it neatly, knowing how much he cared for his suits.

William shared with Julia that he found out that there were four murders in Philadelphia. All four involved professional young women who had been killed by a shot to the left side of the head after having their left ring fingers cut off. He added, "The circumstances of the murders seem significantly like Elizabeth Masteson's, although she died from inhaling carbon monoxide rather than the shot to her head, but she still did get shot in a similar way. There's something … personally familiar about it.

Julia's face took a mischievous expression and she joked, "But you can't quite put your _finger_ on it?" she said with a chuckle.

William rolled his eyes to show his impatience with her "morgue humor" and said, "Quite funny Julia," and then held eye contact with her, pushing for her to respond seriously to his thoughts. He claimed, "If James Gillies was alive, I'd be sure he was involved somehow."

She responded, "It is disquieting … The last time we thought James Gillies was orchestrating things it turned out to be Leslie Garland. Do you think it could be him?"

William contemplated, "Perhaps … He has expressed anger at you for not being a loyal wife to Darcy – maybe that's the meaning behind cutting off the left ring finger …"

"The finger that holds the wedding ring," Julia added showing the excitement of making an important connection.

William thought of another connection, "Darcy was also shot in the left side of the head… Tomorrow I'll have Higgins look into the whereabouts of Leslie Garland."

Julia also planned on contacting the coroners of the Philadelphia victims to see if there were more similarities – like the victims being raped and the trace evidence. Feeling more in control now that they had actions to take on the case, the couple headed up to bed. Julia suggested they take a shower together, seducing William with talk of soapy, slippery bodies and warm water. They made love and fell asleep quickly afterwards.

In the middle of the night, Julia was awakened as William got up out of bed. He told her that the ghost images of the day were bothering him– the sight of the dead woman and his mind's running over what was done to her (and though he did not tell Julia this, his terrifying thoughts of Julia experiencing a similar plight). Julia reached out and took his hand, pulling him back into bed. She took charge - caressing and kissing him in just the right places, and just the right way, to sexually relieve him of much of his stress as he yielded to his body's desires.

The next morning their three children maintained a family tradition by knocking on their bedroom door and, after being told to come in, jumping on the bed with their parents to enjoy a wild round of roughhousing. Julia took the children down to the bathroom in the hall and started getting them cleaned up before Claire-Marie took over.

Julia returned to find William, unclothed, shaving. William's muscular back and firm buttocks drew her attention and set her insides aflame. She closed the bathroom door and leaned her back against it. William lifted his eyes to catch hers, returning a lustful look. "Come here," she said.

William wiped the remaining shaving cream off of his face and obliged her. While they kissed he inched her nightgown up to expose her hips, and then lifted it up over her head. He made sure her arms remained in the nightgown, sliding the bunched-up garment down to her wrists, then twisting it to make it tight and lifting it up to wrap the temporary handcuffs around the towel hook above Julia's head, restraining her. He teased her mercilessly, rubbing, pinching, squeezing, caressing, kissing, licking, and nibbling all over her helpless, luscious body. When he was ready to make love to her, he released her hands, soaking in the pleasure of their hungry explorations and ultimate demand in the form of digging her nails into his back while he thrust deeply inside of her. Afterwards they held each other as their bodies recovered from the exertion. When William found he could speak he told her the best thing he ever did was marry her. He then held his mouth close to her ear and said, "I, William Murdoch, take you, Julia Ogden, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until …"

Julia pushed him back and placed her finger to his lips, she stopped him at "until …" and started to cry, "Don't say it William … please don't say it."

He kissed away her tears and held her until she stopped crying. He realized he wasn't the only one worried about their current case. He tried to reassure her, "I feel the same way – Sometimes I wonder if it was wise to let myself fall so madly in love with you, but I did. It's done now."

"Maybe we'll be lucky and die together so neither one of us is left with such unbearable pain," she suggested.

William hedged, "That would only be lucky if our children were grown ..."

She agreed, and with a sigh, they quickly put back on their pajamas and headed downstairs to join the others at breakfast, sure that Eloise would be anxious that their food would be getting cold.

Later William and Julia remained at the breakfast table after the children cleared out rushing to get ready for a fun day with their parents. Julia sat on William's lap kissing him. She said, "Let's go back upstairs and _play_ some more, Mr. Murdoch."

William responded, "I thought we already _played_ all our games for this morning, Mrs. Murdoch."

Julia gave him a seductive look and challenged him into letting her show him more _games_.

William reminded her, "And our children, will we leave them to entertain themselves?

Julia's face became covered with feigned disappointment and she said, "What were we thinking - having three children, Mr. Murdoch?" William, as well as Eloise who had cleared away their breakfast and was now doing the dishes, chuckled. Unable to convince William to go back upstairs, Julia settled for more kissing while sitting on his lap.

Katie came into the kitchen and called back to William Jr., "They're kissing again."

William Jr. gloated, "I told you… Ask how long?"

Katie asked, "Daddy how much longer?"

William broke off the kissing and explained that they were still not dressed. It would probably be about 20 minutes. The couple headed upstairs and controlled their romantic desires, managing to stay focused on getting dressed. They took the family out for a wonderful day.

William had called the stationhouse earlier and asked the constable working on Saturday to try to locate Leslie Garland. He had not heard back from him. Tonight he was once again having a very hard time sleeping. At one point he awoke from a dream in which Julia was being hung with a string of gold-colored Christmas garland. His mind flared as he recognized the connection between the garland in his dream, the golden piece of plastic from the trace evidence on Elizabeth's body, and Leslie, and his brother Darcy's, sir name. He was certain now that the culprit was Leslie Garland, and he knew that there was now a direct threat to Julia. He decided that tomorrow he would call the stationhouse and get a constable to guard their home while he went to church. Still fighting insomnia, he eventually fell asleep for a few hours before he woke up and headed out, waiting for the constable to arrive before he actually left.

About 20 minutes later two men exited a carriage around the corner from the Murdoch house. One put on a mask and approached the house from the rear while the other, also masked, snuck up along the bushes in front of the porch where the constable was standing guard. A third man pulled the carriage up in front of the house and got out wearing a mask over his head. The constable barked out a threat for the third man to halt, but he kept moving towards the house. The second man snuck up behind the constable and smothered him with a chloroformed cloth. The constable was left unconscious on the bench on the porch. The first man opened the front door from inside the house for the other two men to enter.

They captured Katie first. She was downstairs alone in the parlor, the first to be dressed, and was coloring with crayons. One of the men covered her mouth, stifling her scream, and carried her struggling body under his arm as they headed up the stairs to get the others. At the top of the stairs they could hear Julia talking with the youngest daughter, Chelsea in the bathroom down the hall. As the men quietly approached them they passed William Jr.'s room. William Jr. was also dressed and called out "Mom!" when he saw the men. One of the men grabbed him, also covering his mouth and lifting him up. William Jr. was now also captured.

Julia peeked her head out of the bathroom door and saw that two of her children were being held by the men – each man also holding a gun. The carriage driver was not holding a child, but pointed his gun at William Jr. He said, "Now Dr. Ogden, we are expecting you to come along with us without any trouble."

Julia put her hands up and asked, "Can I finish getting dressed first?" Chelsea tried to run past her, but Julia held the child. Both Julia and Chelsea joined the abductors while still wearing their nightgowns. All of the Murdoch's were barefoot.

Julia, William Jr. and Katie were put in the carriage. The carriage doors were locked from the outside and the windows were covered so that the passengers could not see where they were being taken. The captors kept Chelsea with them up on top of the carriage as collateral.

Katie felt her box of crayons in her pocket as soon as she sat in the carriage. She lifted the crayons out of her pocket. William Jr. exclaimed, "Mom, we can use the crayons like Hansel and Gretel!"

"Great idea, William," Julia said with hope and excitement in her voice. "Break one in half and let's drop it down through this hole in the door. We'll make a trail that your father can follow," she explained.

After the crayons were all broken in half, they had had sixteen opportunities to lead William to where they were being taken. Julia planned on dropping crayons whenever she felt the carriage turn a corner. They ran out of crayons before the trip was done. They ripped the crayon box into six pieces and dropped the pieces down the hole in the carriage door as well. It was not too long after they ran out of items to drop along their path that the carriage stopped and they were taken inside an isolated building. It was the same building where Elizabeth had been killed.

Once inside, they were taken down a corridor and waited outside a metal door. A buzzer sounded and five seconds later the door slid up to open. Julia and the three children were brought into a small unfurnished room with no windows. The men put each of them in handcuffs and then attached the handcuffs to a chain bolted and welded to the floor. They left, waiting outside the door for another buzzer to sound, followed five seconds later by the door sliding down to close.

When William returned from church the constable was awake but still foggy headed. He told William that he had been chloroformed from behind, and that he had seen one masked man and a carriage – dark green with blacked-out windows. William surged into the house, frantically searching for his family, with the constable following along. He desperately looked in all the rooms, even approaching the piano to check the compartment Chelsea had been hidden in during their hide-and-seek game. He noticed that on the floor near the piano there was a drawing one of the children had been making and that the box of crayons was missing. Excitedly he ran out to the street, hoping that his hunch was right, and that Julia had thought to use the crayons to make a trail. He asked the constable which way the carriage had been pointing in and searched the ground along the road in that direction. Elated, he found the first half crayon about fifty feet down the road. He implored the constable to accompany him as they set out to follow the trail. A few hours later they seemed to have lost the trail, but by then they were in the western outskirts of town and William felt that Julia had given him a pretty good start in tracking them down.

They caught a ride the short distance to the closest train station with a gentleman, and then rode the train back to town, where they hailed a hansom cab to get to the stationhouse. Once in the stationhouse, William called in some extra constables because there were very few on duty on Sundays. It was all hands on deck as William searched for clues to find where Leslie Garland was holding his family. They sent constables with Leslie Garland's photo to train stations, hotels, and to stops along the trail Julia had made with the crayons. He also sent constables out to search for the carriage used in the abduction. William looked over maps of the areas around where the trail had run dry and farther west as well. He believed he was looking for the same building where Elizabeth had been killed. It probably wasn't in a residential area – too many potential witnesses. He also figured it would be a building where cars could be stored, maybe a garage – cars would be the most likely source of the carbon monoxide Leslie Garland needed to kill his victims. Further, there had been engine oil on the bottoms of Elizabeth's shoes, suggesting she was around where cars were parked for longer periods of time. William had compiled a list of most likely buildings.

By Monday morning the shift of regular constables began to help. The Inspector stopped in to see Murdoch. He had gotten a report from over the weekend stating that Leslie Garland resided in NYC. They speculated that he would have been close enough to Philadelphia to commit the four murders there. The law firm where Garland worked had not answered the phone over the weekend. Murdoch tried it now. The secretary explained that Garland had taken a few weeks of vacation for Thanksgiving and she guessed that he was with his family up in Buffalo. The Inspector volunteered to follow up on this and headed to his office.

Around noon they got a report on the carriage. It was commonly seen down by the docks and there was a name associated with it, Jim Tyler. William stuffed the list of potential buildings in his pocket and hopped on his bicycle and rushed off to chase down this lead. He found that the carriage and its owner were not anywhere down by the docks and hadn't been seen since Saturday. He called the station around four PM to check in. He was told they had found a hotel in western Toronto where the clerk recognized Garland. William rode his bike to the hotel. Garland had not used his own name in the hotel ledger. William searched the room and came up empty, except for a small oil stain on the floor in the closet where Garland likely left his shoes. On his way out, he thought to ask the clerk if Garland had gotten any mail. This was the clue that provided the location. In Garland's mail there was a bill for work that had been done installing vents and special security doors in a building that was on Murdoch's list. He called the stationhouse to have them notify the local constabulary.

William rode his bicycle to the train and brought it with him on the train to use when he got the two stops up the line. Julia's trail had gotten him very close. He merely needed to travel a bit farther down the same road. The Sun was beginning to set as he exited the train.

An old bearded man followed Murdoch off of the train. He hopped in a hansom cab and followed Murdoch – asking the driver to stay back and not be seen. The voice was decidedly too feminine, a weakness in Eva's disguise.

From outside of the building where the Murdoch family was being held captive, the Sun had set in the west. Inside the building, Julia was alone in a room. The same type of sliding metal door was located on the opposite wall than was the door in the first room. That original room was just on the other side of an adjoining wall. The three children were still handcuffed to the floor in the first room. Julia was also handcuffed and chained to this floor, but now one of her feet was cuffed and chained to the floor as well. Julia yelled towards the adjoining wall, attempting to reassure her children. The children responded to her, expressing their fear. She told them not to worry – she was sure their father would come save them.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded above her metal door. Five seconds later the door slid open. Leslie Garland entered, Julia seeing him for the first time. He was carrying an axe, a log with some straps on it, and some bandage gauze.

"So, Julia, it seems the tables have turned," Garland said smugly.

Julia's eyes fell to the axe, which Garland had placed on the floor out of reach of her chains. She was panicking –envisioning her hand secured onto the log and the axe cutting off her finger, but she also reminded herself that the children would hear if she screamed. She was trying to think of something to say to gain an upper hand.

Garland continued, "You have a choice. Which would you prefer first, cutting off your finger or making a Garland child after all?"

Julia tried to reason with him, "If you are going to kill me, why would you be interested in impregnating me?"

Garland paused, an insidious grin growing across his face, "It is not me who will decide whether or not you die tonight. No … No, that will be your _new husband's_ decision. Perhaps his love for you is as strong as he proclaims, so strong that he will choose you over his children. We will soon see. And, if he chooses you, then the child you and I make tonight may carry on our Garland blood… Somewhat avenging my dear brother Darcy – you do remember him, don't you _sister-in-law_? And if Murdoch chooses you, then you will never wear his ring again."

Terror took over Julia. She was unable to respond. Garland stepped in close to her, touching her cheek and said, "If you can't choose which one will come first, then I will. My experience tells me that you will be much more … accommodating after I have chopped off your finger." Garland turned back towards the axe on the floor.

A loud high-pitched whirring alarm sounded. Garland responded with a curse followed by, "Darn, How did he get here that fast? The note has not even arrived at the stationhouse yet!" Garland rushed out of the room. He used his key to close the door to Julia's cell before he ran up the stairs to the control room to push the button that would set his plan in motion. The door alarm sounded and the door slammed shut five seconds later.

Eva Moon's carriage stopped on the road in front of the building where Murdoch's family was being held captive. She exited, still wearing her old-man disguise, and paused as she stood in the open gate, looking down at Murdoch's bicycle on the ground. Eva lifted her eyes to see Garland fleeing the building, headed for the tree line – She could see the dark-green carriage waiting for him there. "Should I get back in the carriage and chase him or see if Murdoch needs help?" she thought as she hesitated.

Once William got in the building, he could hear Julia and the children calling. He ran down a corridor towards their voices. There was a "T" at the end of the corridor. He halted, trying to decide whether to turn left or right. There was a sign posted directly in front of him, with a key hanging below it. The sign pointed right for "Julia" and left for "Children." Garland's voice over a loud speaker cut through the air, "Hello detective. You have an important decision to make. Your family members are handcuffed and chained to the floor in two different rooms. The key can be used to open any of the handcuffs, however, you will only have enough time to save the occupants in one of the rooms. (William started looking around, searching for the source of the recorded message, for other avenues he could use to help). Once the key is removed from the wall, or this message concludes, a buzzer will sound and poisonous gas will start to flow into both rooms. Breathing the gas for 20 seconds renders an individual unconscious … Perhaps you should hold your breath! Five seconds later the doors to both rooms will open. A second buzzer will sound 20 seconds later, and the doors will close permanently five seconds after that. Whoever is left in the room will be dead within a minute from the gas. Who will you choose?"

Every bone in Julia's body told her that William would choose to save her over their children. She couldn't bear the thought of William Jr., Katie, and Chelsea slowly losing consciousness, waiting to be saved – hearing their father save her instead of them. Julia's voice pierced the silence – it sounded firm, strong, "William, save the children. I'll never forgive you if you choose me!"

The buzzer immediately followed her words. The gas could be heard hissing from up within the ceiling. William grabbed the key and bolted to the left. As he rounded the corner the metal door could be heard opening. William rushed into the room, reaching the key out towards William Jr.'s handcuffs. William called out, "Julia, hold your breath!" He freed William Jr. and started on Chelsea's handcuffs. Now free, William Jr. started to run to the door. "No! Son you stay here – You will get trapped with your mother if you run to her. This is the only key. I mean it – STAY!" He removed Katie's handcuffs and all four rushed to the door. The buzzer sounded (5 seconds until the doors close!). William ran full speed around the corner towards Julia's room. When he was still about ten feet away from the second corner before the entrance to Julia's room, the metal doors could be heard closing.

"NO!" William cried out, drawing on all of his strength not to fall down to his knees in despair. He reminded himself that Julia was still alive. "I'm going upstairs to turn off the gas," he yelled. He turned and ran towards the long corridor - he had seen a door near the entrance.

"Dad, Wait!" William Jr. exclaimed, "She's out!"

William turned back and ran around the corner. Julia lay unconscious in front of the closed door. Tears filled his eyes in response to the miracle of having not lost her. He ran to her side. She still had her handcuffs on, and the cuff around her ankle, but the chains that had held her to the floor had been cut.

Katie excitedly screamed, "I can see her breathing!"

William picked Julia up and they all ran outside into the dusky-skied, cold November evening. Out on the grass under the moonlight, William undid Julia's handcuffs and reminded himself and the children that she needed space to breathe in order to recover. William sat next to her, stroking her face and hair. Julia started to move. Soon she came around.

Through tears, William lifted her up to him and hugged her close, calling her name as he rocked her. "I thought I'd lost you," he said, slowly giving into sobs of relief. Part of him knew he didn't want his children to see him break down so but it was truly out of his control. It was Julia that helped him to recover, reaching up to hold his face and reassuring him, "I'm fine William, really." She wiped away his tears.

"How did you get out?" William asked.

She answered, still sounding groggy, "An old man came in. He broke the chains with the axe Leslie left – he was going to cutoff my finger with it …" A shiver took over her body and her eyes seemed to glaze over, remembering the terror. It was so strong that she felt dizzy and for a moment thought she might lose consciousness again.

William held her closer and rubbed her back. He whispered in her ear, "You're safe now. Everything's alright." William also was struggling with images of what might have been, envisioning the axe chopping off her finger. Then he remembered that the other victims had been raped!

He forced himself to sound calm and considered how to ask without startling the children. After a moment William asked, "Umm, Julia, did he … uh … the other victims had been …"

Julia cupped her hand around the curve of his jaw and cheek and reassured him, "No William, no, he didn't."

William sighed and said, "Well I'm glad for that." They remained lying together, happy just to hear each other's breathing for a while before William asked, "Who do you think he was, the man who set you free?"

Julia tried to sit up of her own accord as she continued, "His voice sounded funny – like a woman's. And he had to work very hard to break the chains – he was very weak. Before I lost consciousness he said, 'Tell him I now know what it cost him." William sat up and guided Julia so that she could lean back against him, remaining wrapped in his arms.

William stared off, repeating the words, "I now know what it cost him … Julia, I think it was Constance Gardner. When I set her free all those years ago I had told her there was a wedding that day and all the stationhouse was attending, providing the perfect opportunity to let her go. She asked me if I was sure I wanted to release her because it would likely cost me my career. I remember I said to her that she would never know what it cost me. Somehow she must have learned that I chose to set her free rather than stop your wedding."

"Would she have followed your life all these years, William? And then take such a risk, to her life and her freedom, to save me for you?" she wondered.

"William seemed thoughtful as he responded, "Perhaps."

It was chilly and William gave his jacket to his two daughters to huddle together in, his vest to William Jr., and he took off his dress shirt and gave it to Julia to put over her nightgown. The children sat down, tucking in close under the arms of their parents. The family sat quietly, waiting for the local police to arrive.

Julia pointed out that the western part of the sky still held a hint of the sunset that had occurred about half an hour earlier. William added, "I think there's a full moon tonight – if so, it should be rising to the east." Everyone turned around to see if the full moon was there as predicted. Gasps filled the air as they saw, just at that moment, the smallest thin sliver of the curved moon emerge out from under the left side of the Earth's rounded shadow.

Julia declared, "Oh, it's an eclipse! Our planet was directly in between the Sun and the Moon and the moon is moving out of the line now." Julia turned sideways and then playfully knocked her elbow into William's chest as she said, "If I have this right, William, now would be the best time to see if your arms are long enough to reach out and make a shadow on the Moon … no?"

He thought for a moment, twisting his head a little to the left. "Actually, we just had sunset here, so our part of the shadow is on the right side, it has already passed over the Moon. The side of the shadow that can be seen on the Moon now is the left side, so places where the Sun is _rising_ are over here on this left side," he said, offering her a little twist in his mouth to show his disappointment.

Julia didn't completely understand, but was too exhausted to push him to explain it further. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "I'll take your word for it, Professor Murdoch."

The Murdoch family finally arrived back at their home around eleven o'clock at night, after giving their preliminary statements to the local authorities and being escorted home. They were all very hungry, and shared a quick dinner of sandwiches. William and Julia gave the children baths and tucked them into bed. Julia was reading the girls a bedtime story when William went to their bedroom to brush his teeth and get ready to take a shower with Julia. He pulled off his undershirt and went to the sink to brush his teeth.

Leslie Garland was hiding in the shower behind William. He quietly pulled the edge of the shower curtain over a little and aimed his gun at William's head. William had caught the movement in the mirror and momentarily froze. He pretended he didn't see Garland and returned to brushing his teeth, trying to think of how to disarm the man.

Garland said, "Freeze detective. Don't move… It's time for Julia to become a widow again. Now, could you please turn to the left? I'd like to have your death be as similar to my dear brother's as possible… You know, I do hold you responsible for his death – It was you who tempted Julia away from him. Oh, and you should know that after I kill you, I'm going to kill your son too – that way there won't even be a little piece of you left for Julia to love."

William had already planned to charge Garland by ducking low, as the gun was aimed high, at his head, but knowing that if he did not stop Garland, William Jr. would be killed sent the bolt of urgency through his body that he needed to overcome the fear of possibly being killed when he tried.

Garland repeated, "To the left, please, detective."

William faked turning to the left, but then spun down and to the right. He threw his body with all his might into the lowest part of Garland's body behind the shower curtain as possible. The gun went off, but too high. Both bodies hurled down towards the back of the tub, shower curtain and shower rod flying along behind them.

The sound of the shot ripped through the Murdoch home. Julia ran for their bedroom, yelling to the children to stay in their rooms on the way. When she burst into the bathroom she found William standing over Leslie Garland's limp body in the tub, half covered by the broken shower. "William, are you alright," she managed to say, even though she could see that he was.

"He hit his head. Maybe he broke his neck," William said, keeping his eyes, and the gun, fixed on Garland.

Julia checked his pulse. After what seemed like an inordinately long time waiting to observe a heartbeat Julia said, "He's dead, William."

With his head spinning, William placed the gun down on the bathroom counter and leaned back to rest his buttocks on the edge of the counter. He reached up and rubbed his forehead, something Julia had come to know meant he was stressed. He had a dazed look, his eyes never leaving the body of the dead killer, as if he didn't trust that the man wouldn't rise up and try to kill one of them again. His voice seemed to come from somewhere far away when he said, "Julia, it feels like it will never end."

She stepped in close to him, "It has ended William. He's dead. It's over. We're safe." She softly placed her fingers on his chin and turned him to face her. "You did it – You saved us, and you made sure he can never harm us ever again." Her own feelings of relief were managing to overwhelm the shaking she felt in her knees. She pressed her lips against his, marveling in the gratitude she felt that he was alive and standing right here in front of her.

"Yes, yes, of course. You're right Julia," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He told her, as he reached up to fondle her curls, "He said he wanted to make you a widow again – and he was going to kill William Jr. too. He wanted to make sure there was nothing left of me for you." He was finding the horror of the possibility hard to shake.

Julia pulled back quickly. "Oh! The children – They must be terrified," she said as she turned to run to them. William joined her. They reassured the children that they were definitely safe. They told them that their imprisoner was dead. Knowing they would be too wound up to sleep, they brought them downstairs and made some hot chocolate. The family cuddled together in the parlor and they read a bit more of the current book – Hansel and Gretel. Katie told the story of how William Jr. thought of using her crayons like Hansel and Gretel used the bread crumbs in the story. William explained how very important that trail had been in helping him find them. At some point, William slipped away to call the stationhouse and have the body picked up and taken to the morgue. Finally the children were calm enough to tuck into bed.

William and Julia decided to take a shower together in the hall bathroom as their shower was broken and they felt an aversion to their bathroom right now. The creepy feelings the traumatic events had left crawling under their skin needed to be washed away. They needed the kind of soothing that only they could give to each other. Being extremely gentle and caring with each other their kisses were slow, deep, and smooth. After they dried off and slid into bed they made love. The tender intimacy eased both of them. After they were finished, William rolled over on his back and Julia draped her thigh over him, resting her head on his chest.

William reached over and turned off the lamp. The darkness enveloped them as they tried to calm their minds and tempt sleep. William's mind played the image of standing in front of the key, trying to decide what to do over and over in his mind. He broke the silence, "Julia, I … uh, When I, um … I had to decide …"

Julia lifted her head and turned to place her mouth closer to his ear. Her voice full of compassion, she said, "William, you faced the ultimate dilemma – one that most people will never encounter in their entire lifetimes. The responsibilities and consequences involved in making such a decision are overwhelming."

"But, Julia," he said, "I was nearly frozen with indecision. My rational mind told me to save the children – they have longer lives ahead of them and there are three of them, and I love them so … Oh, but my heart and soul Julia, drove me to save you."

"I know," she said, pressing her hand down on his chest over his heart.

"How did you know I wanted to save you?" William asked.

Julia paused, then sighed, and whispered, "Because if I had to choose, my heart and soul would tell me the same thing about you."

It did William's spirit good to hear of the power of his wife's love for him. His mind replayed the scene once again, and he remembered Julia's unwavering voice saying to him, "William, save the children. I'll never forgive you if you choose me!"

"Then why did you tell me to save the children?" he asked.

"They are innocent, and we are their parents - We are responsible for them. I knew we would never be able to live with the guilt of saving me while letting them die. They could hear what was happening, what we said … They would have known we abandoned them."

"But you are innocent too," William argued.

"No. I should never have married Darcy knowing my heart belonged to you. I am not innocent," she reasoned.

She felt William's heart beat faster and his breathing grow shallow as he tried to keep anguish from taking over. He said, his voice quivering, fighting back tears, "Julia, when I was running to you with the key and I heard the door close, it took everything I had not to fall to the ground. I swear I could hear my heart shattering... After all we've been through I really thought this was it – that you were truly gone." Pain overtook him as he forced himself to inhale despite the sting it brought to his chest. The shaky sound filled their dark bedroom.

Julia purposefully slowed her own breathing and kept the pitch of her voice low and steady, "But William, I am not gone. I'm right here. And I know that you would be able to go on if you had to – That you would be able to be a good father, and a good man … without me." She held him while his crying grew into sobs that slowly lost their power as the energy of the ache bacame spent.

William calmed down before she asked, "William, why did you follow my request to save the children rather than follow your heart?"

"I would do anything in my power to please you, Julia. I suppose I was willing to sacrifice my happiness to allow for you to die as much at peace as possible. When it comes down to it, it seems that my love for you drives me to do what I believe is best for you," he replied. The strength of William's love, devotion, and loyalty for Julia was strikingly obvious between them.

They were quiet for a few moments before Julia spoke, "Sometimes I really wonder if there is such a thing as fate. I mean, think of Constance Gardner - If you had chosen to save me then would she have saved our children? I think she would have tried, but William; there was no axe in their room. How would she have broken their chains? Do you think you were fated to choose to save them with the key so she could save me with the axe Leslie left in my room?"

"Perhaps …" William said. "But maybe she would have found another way to save the children – like shooting the chain with a gun or wedging something under the door so it wouldn't close," he speculated.

Julia tried to imagine what it would have been like if William chose to save her. It only increased her fright. "It was so close William," she said, her voice revealing the fear she was remembering, "I was so scared." She began to cry. William slid down to tuck her face into his neck and he wrapped his arms tighter around her. Her weeping grew into sobbing. It felt like she was crying decades-worth of tears, from when she was nearly gutted by Orville, to buried alive, to almost hung, to almost losing William on the ship, to nearly dying in childbirth and losing their second child to miscarriage, and even mourning the death of Darcy. William made sure she knew he was with her, she was not alone, but he made no effort to stop her tears. Eventually her body softened and her breathing steadied. Catharsis complete for now, she brought her lips to his ear and said, "I love you so very, very much William."

"And I you," he replied, "You know, I still believe the very best thing I ever did was marry you, Mrs. Murdoch. William contemplated, "I had no idea two people could love each other as much as we do. Perhaps it is the unavoidable pain that comes with such a love that explains the wonderful feelings of falling in love – so much like the terrifying feeling of actually falling, but somehow experienced as pleasurable when it's love. In our case, I honestly feel that we're still falling – What an amazingly deep love this is."

Sleepiness was finally seeping into Julia's head. "Yes, it truly is William," She whispered, "Let's try to get some sleep. There should be better days tomorrow."

The Murdoch household managed to sleep through the rest of the night until morning.

Back at the stationhouse the next day, William was given two letters by the constable when he walked in. The first was clearly sent by Leslie Garland and would have arrived too late yesterday evening for him to save Julia from being raped and having her finger cut off. It told him to go to the address given if he had any hope of ever seeing his family alive again – and to make sure he was alone or they would all be instantly gassed and killed. He thought once again about fate and that possibly Constance Gardner's following him could have turned out being deadly rather than heroic, if Leslie Garland were a little better at planning his murders.

The other letter was from Eva Moon, though it was not signed. It said,

 _Evening Moon in the sky, seems to follow you as you move throughout your life._

 _Fate, like gravity, has pulled us together, forcing us to deal with strife._

 _Eclipses occur in life as well as in the heavens – entangling us with other souls._

 _True nature revealed in the highlights and the shadows._

 _The debt is paid, but only time will tell if we will be aligned again._

 _Our forces seek the same justice – We carry the same burden._

 _Take care, And know that in my heart I will always call you my friend._

William placed the note back in the envelope, feeling every emotion all at once, but settling on awe. He heard himself sigh. It was really all about perspective, and he so treasured moments like this one - when he could see _both_ the forest _and_ the trees. He knew life would pull him back in – that the details would steal his attention, but he would always know that there is so much more to it than that.

He decided to head over to the morgue. Julia was there and _she_ was his forest and _she_ was his trees.


End file.
